Paper tear-off device for typing apparatus



May 6, 1941. H. w. PASCHKE PAPER TBAR'CFF DEVICE FOR TYPING APPARATUS Filed July 17, 1939 INVENTOR. HAROLD W. PASCHKE ATTORNEY.

Patented May 6, 1941 PAPER TEAR-OFF DE VICE ron TYPING APPARAT Harold W. Paschke, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Teletype Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July 17, 1939, Serial No. 284,825

6 Claims.

This invention relates to type printing apparatus, such as typewriters and page printing telegraph apparatus, and particularly to paper tear-ofl' blades for printing'mechanisms of the kind mentioned;

An object of the invention is to provide for the severance of single or multiple pages a wide range of distances from the printing point.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the retention of a tear-off blade in a retracted or inefiective position, solely in consequence of movement of the blade to that position.

A further object of the invention is to prodetailed description to be interpreted in the light of he accompanying drawing in which;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view or the platen carriage of the typewriting or printing telegraph machine, including a paper tear-off blade structure in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view taken at the lefthand end of the platen carriage shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the tear-on blade structure and its mounting only, as viewed at the right-hand end of Fig. l.

vide for the guiding of transversely creased or otherwise bulging single or multiple page material supplied in continuous lengths under- -.neath the paper tear-off blade.

The invention features adjustable rests for spring biased supporting arms for a paper teafoff blade which support the tear-01f blade in any desired position relative to the printing position and which ofier no hindrance to manual retraction of the paper tear-ofi blade to an inefi'ective position.

Briefly, the preferred embodiment of the in- .vention contemplates the attachment, to the platen carriage of a typewriting or printing telegraph machine, of pivoted armswhich carry at their foremost ends a paper tear-off blade extending longitudinally of the platen above the printing position. Adjustable stop screws cooperate with the arms which support the tearofl. blade to determine and permit variation of the position of the tear-oil? blade relative to the printing position. A spring which is distended between a spring post on the platen carriage and a similar post on one of the arms which support the tear-off blade biases the blade supporting structure into operative position, as determined by the stop screws. When the tearoil. blade is retracted to its ineffective position, the axis of the spring passes from one side to the other of the pivotal axis of the tear-off blade supporting arms, and thus, operating as an overcenter device, retains the blade in the retracted position. The tear-off blade is provided with flexible spring fingers which extend inwardly and downwardly toward the printing position for guiding any bulging portion of single or multiple page strips beneath the tear-off blade. An

example of such bulging portions of page material is the outward or protruding creases in zig-zag folded lengths of page material.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following For convenience in illustrating the invention, it has been shown in the drawing applied to the platen carriage of a printing telegraph machine, such as that shown in Patent No. 1,904,164 granted April 18, 1933, to S. Morton et al. This patent discloses a page printing mechanism in which a cylindrical printing platen is rotatably supported in a cradle which is pivotally mounted upon portions of the frame of the printer. The frame may be rocked upon its pivot for upper and lower case printing, but there is no provision for longitudinal movement of the printing platen for character spacing. Instead, the type bars are arranged in a type basket carriage which is supported by rollers upon rails for movement parallel to the axis of the platen for character spacing and for return to beginningof-line position; Such type printing mechanism is particularly adapted to the handling of single or multiple continuous page width paper, for the reasons that the portions of the paper between the supply rolls or pack and the platen carriage are not subjected to shifting movement laterally, as is the case when such paper supplies are used on type printing machines in which the platen carriage travels back and forth across the machine for spacing operations.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral ll designates spaced upper portions of the frame of a type printing apparatus. Frame portions ii have mounted thereon opposed pilot screws 12 which engage and pivotally support a platen carriage or cradle indicated generally by the reference numeral i3 and comprising as principal elements the right and left-hand end plates i4 and 16, respectively, interconnected, for undergoing identical pivotal movement, by a connecting bar l'l. Cradle end plates M and iii are provided with bosses i8 and i9, respectively, which rotatably support platen shaft 2|. Shaft 21 supports, between the end plates [4 v and [6, a platen 22 which, in the particular apertures 24 in one or a plurality of continuous page width forms to impart paper advancing movement when platen 22 is rotated. Rotation maybe imparted to platen 22 in clockwise direction, as viewed at the right-hand end of Fig.1, by a line feed mechanism (not shown).

A spring biased detent 21 co-operates with a ratchet 26 secured to one end of platen 22 to determine positive stop positions for platen 22 and tomaintain the platen in those positions so that printing shall be accomplished in straight and accurately spaced lines, I

Each of the end plates l4 and I6 has pivoted thereto by means of screws, such as 28 (Fig. 2),, mounted below and behind platen shaft 2 I, arms 29 and 3|, to the free ends of which is secured a paper tear-off blade 32 extending parallel to the platen shaft 2|. Between the arm 29 and cradle end plate l4, there is secured to the plate M a bracket 33 which has a laterally extendingear 34. and which also supports the spring post 36. An abutment screw 31" th-readedly engages the ear 34 and is provided with a head 38 in alignment with tear-off blade supporting arm 29, against which arm 29 may rest to determine op-' ceded it will be in registry with the upper edge of crating position of tear-oil blade 32. At its opposite end, screw 31 is provided with a slot 39 by means of which it may be rotated to vary the pivotal position of arm 28 relative to the platen shaft 2| and, therefore, to vary the elevational position of blade 32 with respect to the platen.

Screw'39 is also provided with a lock nut 4|.

Arm 29 carries a spring post 42 and a tension spring '43 is distended between posts 36 and 42 to bias arm 23 into engagement with spherical head 38 of screw 31.

Arm 3|, which is pivotally end plate I6, is provided with an upwardly extending arm 44 which terminates in a laterally bent portion 46, which is threadedly engaged by an abutment screw 41. End plate I6 has integral therewith a boss 48, the peripheral surface of which the'inner end of screw 41 abuts when arm 3| is to hold blade 32 in operative position. By

supported by cradle varying the adjusting of screw 41, the angular position of arm 3|, relative to platen shaft 2|, may be varied. A look nut 49 is associated with screw 41 for locking the. screw in any desired position of adjustment.

Although tear-oil blade 32 is rigidly secured by screws to pivoted arms 29 and 3| so that regardless of whether the angle of arm 29 or 3| be changed, or whether blade 32 itself be lifted, the assembly comprising arms 29 and 3| and blade 32 will move as a unit. However, in order that blade 32 shall always be maintained in parallelism with shaft 2|, it is desirable that when blade is being .used in paper tearing position, arm 23 shall abut the spherical head of screw 31 and the inner end of screw 4'! shall abut the peripheral surface of boss 48. Furthermore, the screws 31 and 41 should be so adjusted relative to the ears 34 and 46 which they threadedly engage, that upon which message material has been printed,

at varying distances from the printing line, For

example, the stationery may be continuous strips V 2,241,357 vided with sprocket pins 23 for entering marginal of printed forms having transverse weakening lines between each two forms. For certain purposes, the forms may be one length and for other purposes they may be of different lengths. Also, the amount of space devoted to printed headings may vary with different forms, thus varying the position for the printing of the first line of message material with respect to the upper edge of the form. One mode of operation, under which the tear-oil blade may be employed, is that when a form, upon which message material is to be printed, has been advanced to bring the point at which the first line of printing is to appear into registry with the printing position, the upper edge of that form and, therefore, the transverse weakening line between it and the form which prethe blade 32. The form upon which the preceding message material was printed is thus in position to be severed and may be severed by the co-operation of the edge of blade 32 with the transverse weakening line, or by means of such weakening line without the actual co-operation of the blade 32, the blade merely serving as a reference line for the positioning of the form upon which the next material is to be printed. Thus,

message material.- The difference is largely one" of viewpoint rather than of' operation when continuous forms having transverse weakening lines are used, but with continuous forms having no weakened severance lines or other indications of the tear-ofl points, a different situation exists. With stationery of the latter kind, the advancement of a form into position for the printing of the first line brings the point at which the preceding form should be severed into'registry with the upper edge of the tear-ofi blade 32, if the tear-oil blade has, been correctly positioned in advance by adjusting screws 31 and 41 to fix the position of blade 32 at the desired distance from the printing line, and the form or assembly of forms upon which message material had previously been printed may be severed by drawing it against the edge of the tear-off blade without the necessity for transverse weakening lines.

For some purposes, such as the printing of message material on continuous lengths of blank paper, or upon continuous forms characterized by very narrow headings, it may be desirable to position the tear-off blade as close as possible to the printing position, in order to minimize the amount of blank paper between the upper edge and the first line of printed material, or to print the first line of message material relatively close to the heading. With the structure disclosed in the drawing, the pressure rollers 5| are the only elements in the structure which prevent bringing the lower edge of the tear-off blade down to the printing line. It is to be noted that arms 29 and 3| are provided with offsets so that thebosses l3 and I9, in which platen shaft 2| is journaled, shall not prevent the bringing of blade 32 as close to the printing line as pressure rollers 5| will permit.

Operating circumstances have been encountered under which it may be desirable to have the I or creases, and the outward foldsmay not advance properly to and pass under the blade 32 unless guided injadvance by some meanasuch blade 32 positioned for active co-operation with the stationery at considerable distances from the printing line. Such operating conditions are exemplified in the use of forms having relatively I wide headings.

double feature of wide range ofefiective positions of the tear-off blade and easy movement of the blade to an ineffective position where it shall remain has been accomplished by so locating spring post 36 with respect to the axis about which arms 29 and 3| rock, that spring 43 shall be disposed.

' as the fingers 53.

Preferably, the fingers 53 are adjusted in such I angular position, relative to and extending downwardly from blade 32, so that. the inner surfaces 'atthe free ends'shall just fail'to engage the paper s ifrom the printing position to'the tear-oilv blade. Thus, the paper will not be dragged under the fingers in engagement therewith, and undesirable marking or smudging 01.

carbon copies will be avoided. Any tendency of the paper to. bulge outwardly, and escape from beneath blade 32 will be corrected by flexible fingers 53, i It. will be apparent that since arms 29 sneer are pivoted below and behind the axis of platen 22, the angles of fingers 53, relativeto forwardly of the axis of rotation of arms 29 and I 3| throughout the range of adjustment desired and arm 29 shall thus .be biased in oounterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, into engagement with head 38 of screw 31 and arm 3| shall be biased clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2, to maintain screw 41 in engagement with boss 48. Sufli blade 32, in order to bring the ends of the fingers in close proximity to the surface of the paper will vary as the elevation of blade 32 relative to the printing line is varied. When the blade 32.is adcient additional rearward movement of blade 32, I

to which corresponds clockwise movement of arm 29, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, is permitted, to cause spring 43 .to move to the rear ofthe pivotal axis of arms 29 and 3|. This results in an over-center condition and causes spring 43 to.

justed relatively close to the printing position, the pressure rollers 5| will .be adequate in preventing the' papenfr'om escaping from under the blade 32 and fingers 53 may be swung upwardly until they extend along and rest against the outer surface .of blade 32, where they will be out of th way'.-

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it

bias arm 29 in clockwise direction instead off I counterclockwise. Movement of blade 32, after spring 43 has'passed over center rearwardly, is limited by engagement of projection 44 oi? arm 3| with the top of theleft-hand framemember I i upon which endplate I6 is pivotally supported. Projection 44 engages the upper endoi' bracket ll just soon enough after spring l3h-as passed across the pivotal axis of arms 29 and 3l,-so that spring 43 will retain blade 32 in this ineffective or rest position. Further rearward movement of blade 32 would be of no advantage.; ,When blade 32 is to be restored to effective or operative position, it needbe moved forwardly only a suflicient 'distance to overcenter the spring in the for- "ward direction, whereupon the spring will rock farm 29 forwardly which will impart similar movement to arm 3| until both arms have been- :arrested by their stop screws 31 and 41. I

Adjaent to the point at the'foremost ends of will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details set forth, but is capable of modification and rearrangement without departing from the spirit of the invention and 9 within the scope of the appended claims. What isclaimed is:

1. In a typing apparatus having a cylindrical platen for supporting paper in type receiving 'po sition, apaper tear-off blade extending longitudinally of said'platen, pivotally mounted means for supporting said blade, adjustable meansfor determining severalefiective positions of said blade longitudinally of the paper and for maintaining said blade whilein said several positions fin parallelism but out of engagement with said f platen, and yieldable means for urging said blade into the several effective positions.

pivoted arms 29 and 3! where tear-ofi blade 32 is secured, the arms have been provided with shoulder screws 52 upon and under the heads of which flexible paper guiding fingers 53 are mounted.

Fingers 53 are made ofv very thin spring metal and the portions under the headsof screws 52 2. In atyping apparatus having a cylindrical platen for supporting paper in type receiving position, a paper tear-01f blade extending longitudinally ofsaid platen, a pair of arms pivoted below and behind the axis .of said platen and supporting at their free ends said blade, adjustare twisted or otherwise deformed and thede formed parts are partiallyco mpressed so as to,

be held between the heads of screws 52 and the ends of arms 29 and 3| with suflicient friction" that the fingers shall remain in any angular. po-

sition in which they are adjusted relative to blade I 32. Fingers 53 are bent inwardlyso that they shall seek engagement with the paper. The purpose of fingers 53 is to guide the. paper beneath tear-off blade 32. They are required principally,

when blade 32 is employed at a considerable distance from the printing line to preventithe upper edge of a form or set or forms from which the preceding forms have been severed from escaping able means co-operating with said arms for determining several effective positions of said blade longitudinally of the paper and for maintaining 3 said blade while in said several positions in. parallelism but out of engagement with said platen, and yieldable means for urging said arms to the several positions determined by said ad- I justable means.

out from under the blade 32.- I'heyfalso have utility when stationery supplied in zig-zag folded form is employed in the printer. Such stationery presents alternate inward and outwardiolds,

3.,11'1 a typing apparatus, a platen carriage, a platen rotatably supported in said carriage, a tear-oil blade extending longitudinally of said platen above the printing line, an arm at each end of said carriage pivoted thereto below and behind the axis of said platen and supporting at its free end said tear-oil blade, spring means for biasing said blade toward the printing line, and an adjustable abutment screw co-operating with each arm to hold said blade at any desired distance from the printing line and in parallelism with the. axisof said platen.

In a typing apparatus, a platen carriage, a

platen rotatably supported in said carriage, a tear-oil blade extending longitudinally of said platen above the printing line, an arm at each end "oLthe carriage pidoted thereto below and behind the axis; of the platen and, supporting at its free end one end of said tear-off blade, a spring post carried by said carriage immediate below the pivotal mounting of one of said arms, a spring post carried by the arm below which said first mentioned spring post is mounted, a tension spring distended between said posts and movable across the pivotal axis of said arms upon the.

shifting of said blade a predetermined distance from the printing line, and means co-operating with said arms for holding said blade at any point within said predetermined distance in opposition to said spring.

5. In a typing apparatus, a platen carriage, a platen supported in said carriage, a paper tearofi blade extending longitudinally of said platen above the printing line, an arm at each end of the carriagepivoted thereto below and behind the printing line and supporting at its free end one end of said tear-off blade, means co-operating with said arms for determining effective positions of said blade, and a spring for biasing one of said arms to present said blade in efiective positions, said spring being operable as an over center to hold said blade in an inefiective position.

6. In a typing apparatus, a platen carriage, a cylindrical platen rotatably supported in said carriage, a tear-oil blade extending longitudinally of said carriage, an arm pivoted at each end of the carriage below and behind the axis of said platen and supporting at its outer end one end of said blade, means co-operating with said arms for determining pivotal positions of said arms and thus effective positions of said blade, and paper guiding fingers carried by said blade, said fingers being adjustable upon said blade according to the position of the blade to be normally out of contact with paper approaching said blade yet to prevent bulging of said paper below and forwardly of said blade. HAROLD W. PASCHKE. 

